Reuters and AlertNet - One year on: Thousands of children central to Nargis response

Reuters and AlertNet - One year on: Thousands of children central to Nargis response
30 Apr 2009 14:15:00 GMT
Source: World Vision - Asia Pacific
Website: http://wvasiapacific.org/

Children have been at the heart of World Vision's response to Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis with some 17,000 youngsters cared for in special safe places during the months following the disaster.

World Vision's 108 Child Friendly Spaces - established as safe spaces for recovery and learning - have been central to meeting children's needs across the devastated southwest of the country. Many have since been taken over and are being directly run by the communities themselves.

The Spaces were a response to the destruction of schools and homes, as well as to the massive losses by children of relatives and family members. Community volunteers were trained not only in how to run the Spaces but also on how to spot and support those children suffering from psycho-social distress brought about by the cyclone that killed or injured some 138,000 people.

The Spaces are just one of many programmes run by World Vision which has a total current field budget of USD 32 million.

Mia Marina, Emergency Response Support Manager, said: "These special places have played a critical role in the lives of children. Many communities have told us how much they value the special attention being paid to their youngsters. Not only did they give children a place of their own in which to play, meet friends and recover a sense of normalcy but they also allowed parents to get on with rebuilding their lives knowing their children were being cared for."

One parent told World Vision that the Space in his remote village was the best thing that had happened to them as a family. All his eight children were attending. He was especially happy his six year old son, who had physical disabilities prior to the cyclone, was also able to attend along with 80 children. The training of volunteers to run the Spaces was also having a long-lasting impact. "Local volunteers have learned about the various stages of child development, the different skills children should have at these ages and how to teach different age groups," said Mia.

In other villages the Spaces had inspired communities to host non-formal education classes, to teach children basic reading, writing and numeracy skills, while elsewhere World Vision is helping volunteers to organise classes on parenting and early childhood development for children aged 0-3. In addition, World Vision is also building and furnishing 16 schools.

"Today, our children are better able to express themselves and share their ideas and opinions. They are more creative in the way they play," said one local teacher whose own children attend a Child Friendly Space.

World Vision's Programme overview:

The agency's eight-month emergency response programme has since morphed into a one-year programme that is focused on helping communities towards long-term recovery.
During the emergency phase World Vision provided food and non-food items (including emergency shelters) and ran water, sanitation and hygiene, child protection, health and livelihood programmes that reached over 347,000 people in Yangon and the Delta.
In the current phase World Vision is targeting 100,000 people in Bogale, Pyapon and Hainggyi, focusing on livelihood recovery, child protection, water, sanitation and hygiene, and disaster risk reduction.
World Vision operated relief and development programmes in Myanmar for 24 years before the cyclone struck and has 600 staff, almost entirely all nationals, based in country.
A few key results:
Food aid provided to over 314,000 in 12 townships
Temporary shelter kits given to 56,793 families in Yangon and the Delta.
Cooking sets handed to 32,334 families in the Delta
Livelihoods: 90 hand tractors, 75 threshing machines 247 boats provided
Tools provided to enable communities to clean 313 ponds and wells
56 World Vision-supported mobile health clinics, served more than 13,000 people in 36 remote villages
400 volunteers trained in child protection, child rights and life-skills
World Vision is constructing 16 schools, complete with furniture